This invention relates to an apparatus for the handling of a series of individual parts, and more particularly to an apparatus for the high-speed handling of packaged integrated circuit parts.
In the semiconductor industry integrated circuits are given a series of final electrical tests before the circuits are used or sold. For economic reasons, especially in view of the very large number of circuits manufactured and tested, it is necessary that the required handling time be kept short. The total time used for implementing the final test is the sum of the actual testing time plus the time required for handling the parts. Using sophisticated computer controlled testing, the actual test time has been reduced to the order of tens of milliseconds with the exact time determined by the test required, type of computer tester, and the method used for programming the tester. The handling time includes the time to get the circuit package into position for the test plus the time to get the package out of the test fixture and into the proper bin where the proper bin is selected based on the results of the test performed. It is important to reduce the handling time to a minimum and, where possible, to perform the handling simultaneously with the testing.
Commercial machines which are presently available can handle a maximum of about 8,000 parts per hour excluding the actual testing time. The variety of prior art machines suffer from one or more of the following deficiencies which make their operation slower than desired. Air cylinders or solenoids used for singulating parts or activating contacts use up time without moving the parts. Parts moved solely by gravity move into position too slowly. Sorting mechanisms using reciprocating parts that must move and return waste time on the return. Gates and shutters are slow because they must be activated by solenoids or other means.
Accordingly, a need existed to develop a high-speed handler which would overcome the problems of prior art machines to reduce the total handling time of integrated circuit devices by more than a factor of five.